$$: FUN & Outrageous Spending

Posted on | October 18, 2008 |

Ecobikeusa.com — $1,174.00
More Christmas shopping. This time I was shopping for The Husband. There’s a story here:

A few weeks ago the whole family attended a little BBQ party. One of the party attendees arrived with his wife on the back of this cute little scooter. Over burgers, he told us all about his new “ride.” It’s completely electric; you plug it right into a regular outlet to recharge it; you don’t need a special license to ride it, in fact you don’t need a license at all; no vehicle registration needed; reaches speeds up to 30 mph; and a range of about 30 miles.

Later, my friend offered test rides for anyone interested. Naturally, I jumped at the chance. First I took The Daughter out. I made it about 1/2 a block before she wanted to try it. She did a beautiful job and I spent the rest of the ride on the back. Then I took out The Son. He’d recently broken his clavicle and had one wing in a sling so he couldn’t try piloting the scooter himself. I have no doubt that he’ll have fun on ours after his wing heals completely. The Husband just watched.

So imagine my shock when The Husband announced a few weeks ago that he wanted a scooter for Christmas. Now, I knew he wanted an electric bike for Christmas. I’d been doing some Internet shopping for a couple of weeks. But the whole scooter thing took me by surprise.

Way back in the day before The Husband became my lawfully wedded, he and I used to ride bikes together. It’s the one form of exercise that he’s always enjoyed (well, okay, it’s one of the two forms of exercise he’s always enjoyed). When we became parents, despite the fact that we were dirt poor, the one piece of baby equipment we bought was a bike trailer. It was The Husband’s first cancer surgery that ended out family biking activities. His second surgery, two years after the first surgery — requiring a second incision from belly button down — permanently deflated his bike’s tires.

An electric bike, he hoped, would allow him to get back out on the open road. I love him too much to tell him I thought he was being self-delusional. The scooter — now that might work. He could tool around on his scooter while The Son and I ride our bikes.

What I love about the idea of the scooter is that, to a very limited extent, it can be used as a third vehicle during those times when The Daughter and The Husband have possession of both cars and I want to make a bank run or pick up a gallon of milk. Plus, in all honesty, it was pure fun to ride.

Anyway, we wanted the MFE5-13 (comes with a locking back trunk) but he was all out of stock. So we bought a MFE5-7 (no trunk, but does have a rear rack) instead. The Husband wanted blue but we’ll probably receive red since the blue appears to be out of stock as well. It’s being shipped via FedEx and we might get it by the end of the week. I’ll be sure to report back with a product review once I’ve had a chance to get it set up and give it a couple of test rides.

I know, you’re thinking “wait, this was a Christmas present? It’s only the middle of October!” Well, that’s the way The Husband and I do things. A scooter’s not going to do us much good once there’s snow on the ground. Might as well open it up and give it a go on whatever nice days we have left before winter really sets in.

Old Chicago Pizza — $203.91
A surprise 16th birthday party for The Daughter. No, it’s not her birthday. In fact she’ll be turning 17 in another 4 months. So this was techically a quick-gotta-finally-throw-her-a-16th-birthday-party-before-she-turns-17 party.

You know those dumb Mastercard commercials? Where they say, “Hook — $15, Line — $150, Sinker — $3,000. Knowing you’ll never, ever dig yourself out of debt — Priceless.” You know the ones.

Well, that’s how I felt about this party. Not the digging myself out of debt part but the sight of my 16-2/3 year old daughter, so pissed off at me for detouring off our afternoon plans that she’s got steam coming out of her ears, when 16 of her friends and classmates stood up and shouted “surprise” — that moment was priceless. And worth every single penny.

The kids had a great time. For $12/head they got unlimited pizza, attentive service, and all the soda they could drink. So they ate and chatted and sipped soda and opened some gifts and then had cake.

And, now, well past midnight, I’ve got a gaggle of loud giggly girls in my basement that I have to go ask to turn it down a notch so The Son and I can get some beauty sleep before we have to get up and go to early church tomorrow.

Nighty, Night.

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